FOOD

Friday, August 13, 2010

What are New York Women Wearing on their feet?

If you've watched Sex and the City, you know that Carrie Bradshaw's biggest love next to Mr. Big is her Manolo Blahniks - I mean, how can you not? Ok, really, I don't own a pair and haven't had a desire to own a pair either -- but seriously, is that what New Yorkers are wearing around the city? Well, maybe that's what people are wearing at night, along with their Christian Louboutin's... but, what are people wearing during the day, in their everyday walking shoes?

I thought of this idea as I was walking in Herald Square and I saw a lady (photo above) with these brown high heeled shoes. First thing I noticed was she looked extremely uncomfortable wearing them (um, fashion before comfort?) and she didn't "zip" the back of her shoe which probably made it even more difficult or dangerous for her to walk in. So the following images represent my photographic essay on "what women wear during the day as they walk around the city".

The following photos were taken this past Thursday from 1:30 p.m. to 5:00 p.m. in various parts of New York City, including Herald Square, Chelsea, Union Square, and Chinatown.

Here are some of my favorites photographs:

"Classic Boots"

Left: "#6 - Step on the Bend"

"Legs in Love" :Right

"Legs and Cigarettes"

... two sisters tattooed the word "family" in Syrian

"Family"

... and below are some other examples of what New York women are wearing around the city! Click on the image below to enlarge!

"She's got legs and she knows how to use them" -- ZZ Top

"Walk like an Egyptian" -- Bangles

"Don't have a song for these photos" -- Susan Lee

... if you're wondering how I went about taking these photographs -- let's just say it was a fun and exciting experience. I asked most of the people if I can take a picture of their feet. Some thought it was strange -- who can blame them ? And others were willing participants -- as if it wasn't a strange question to ask! However, I did eventually start telling people -- really, I don't have a foot fetish, I am just doing a little project with my iPhone... :D and yes, I'm a photographer. :D

Surprisingly, I only had one person say "no, I think that's kind of weird" and walked away from me. Ha ha!

and while I was on my mission to photograph all the interesting/weird/cute/ugly shoes worn by New Yorkers -- I thought to myself -- if I was a guy, I would think of a random project like this and take photos of women in New York -- great pick up line? or too strange? ha ha... I don't know... someone gave me their number though. Ha ha!

to the women i photographed: thank you for participating in my project and please leave a message!